Napa Valley and Sonoma County

Storybook Mountain Vineyard

Although I had been thinking about going to Northern California's wine country for several years, it wasn't until an unbelievable airfare deal was advertised on Southwest Airlines that I finally decided plan a trip. Somehow, I was lucky enough to snag an $80 round trip ticket into Oakland. Yes, you read that correctly; this outrageously inexpensive ticket included all associated fees and taxes, so it would have been foolish not to have taken advantage of it.

After deciding to spend four days in Northern California's wine country, I then had the difficult task of choosing which area/city to stay in. Between Napa Valley and Sonoma County there were literally hundreds of options, most of which were quite expensive and more than I wanted to spend. In the end, I settled on Best Western in Rohnert Park as I was able to obtain a great rate ($85 per night) and the fact that it was located halfway between the wine region and the coast, where I planned to spend one day.

My direct Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle arrived in Oakland right on time at 22:35 on Thursday, May 16th. I then proceeded to the airport car rental shuttle bus, which took me straight to the car rental offices. Prior to my trip, I had arranged a car rental through Fox Rent A Car for only $130. As it was quite late by that point (23:00) the car rental company no longer had any more "economy" cars available, so I was upgraded to a Jeep, which was a great surprise! In hindsight, I later realized that the free upgrade was not really "free" as the cost of gas probably ended up being double what it would have been had I had a smaller vehicle.

From the car rental company, it took nearly an hour to reach the hotel. When I walked into the hotel room, I was pleasantly surprised. The room appeared to have been recently remolded, was large and even had a full-sized couch, and included very nice details, such as cherry wood furniture and granite counter tops in the bathroom. It was definitely the nicest Best Western I've ever stayed at! Since it was so late, I headed straight to bed to get some sleep.

My room at Best Western in Rohnert Park.

Day 1 (Friday, May 15th, 2009)

After having gotten in quite late the night before, surprisingly I somehow managed to wake myself up around 8:30. After getting ready, I headed down into the lobby of the hotel as a free continental breakfast was included with the price of my room. Much to my surprise, the breakfast included a large array of items including waffles, fruit, cereal, different sweet breads, and bagels just to name a few. I hadn’t expected such a generous breakfast as the room rate was relatively inexpensive, so I was very pleased!

After quickly eating I headed out and drove to Sonoma, which took about 30 minutes. It was a gorgeous day out with absolutely no clouds in the sky. I immensely enjoyed the passing scenery, which ranged from vast rolling fields to random cows to the ubiquitous vineyards. Everywhere I looked I saw beauty which made it very tempting to pull over and take photos.

I eventually reached charming Sonoma, whose streets were filled with turn of the century homes, small boutiques, and quirky little cafes. In the center of it all was Sonoma Plaza, which was a large park filled with many tall trees and the beautiful city hall situated in the middle. I parked the car for free next to the plaza and walked towards the farmer’s market, which was located a few blocks north of the plaza. I enjoyed my short walk to the market as the warm sun felt wonderfully welcoming on my back.

Sonoma Plaza

Sonoma Plaza

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Pretty flower in Sonoma.

Sonoma

Store in Sonoma.

Store in Sonoma.

Store in Sonoma.

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Sonoma

Unfortunately, when I reached the market, I was quite disappointed. For some reason, I had expected a large farmer’s market with several rows of stalls, but instead, I was greeted with one row of no more than a dozen stalls. For a city of its size and fame, I had assumed it would have been much larger. I walked down the row, stopping to look at a few of the stalls, but quickly left as there wasn’t much to see.

Sonoma's Farmers Market

Sonoma's Farmers Market

Sonoma's Farmers Market

Sonoma's Farmers Market

Sonoma's Farmers Market

From Sonoma, I drove out of the city to Benziger Family Winery. Benziger is located in Glen Ellen on 85 sprawling acres with 360 degree sun exposure. The winery is famous for being the first winery in the area that was certified Biodynamic, which is the highest form of organic farming. In this type of farming no artificial fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are used, weed control is completed by cultivation and other mechanical methods, pest control is done through soil management, and the fertility of the crops are promoted by using compost and manure, both of which are self-generated from the farm. Of the farm's 85 acres, 45 acres are planted in grapes and the other 40 acres are gardens, insectories, olive groves, wetlands, ponds, riparian areas and forest border areas; it was quite evident that the winery took their Biodynamic certification very seriously.

Benziger Family Winery 

Benziger Family Winery

Tram ride tour at Benziger Family Winery.

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Luckily, I arrived about five minutes prior to the 12:00 tram ride tour, which cost $15 per person. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and took everyone all over the property including the vineyards, bottling area, caves, and finally the tasting room and gift shop. The tour was extremely interesting and very informative, as it explained not only the history of the winery, but also of the wine making process including the differences in growing and creating red and white wine. At the end of our tour, everyone was led into the tasting room where we were allowed to sample four wines. I tried a reserve chardonnay (which was very smooth), an estate wine called Oonapais (deep red that was too strong for my taste), a delicious muscat canelli, and a red zinfandel. Benziger was a great winery to choose as my first in the region as it was family-run and provided a non-intimidating atmosphere.

Tram tour at Benziger Family Winery.

Tram tour at Benziger Family Winery.

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery 

Benziger Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery

Gift shop at Benziger Family Winery.

Gift shop at Benziger Family Winery.

Gift shop at Benziger Family Winery.

Gift shop at Benziger Family Winery.

From Benziger, I headed towards Napa Valley, deciding on a restaurant called BarBerQs for lunch. As I walked into the small restaurant that specializes in Memphis style barbecue, I was surprised to see the very modern and sleek décor, which was not what I had expected to find in a barbecue restaurant. I opted to eat inside versus outside on the patio as it was a little too warm out for my comfort (around 85 degrees). I chose the Smoked Chicken Sandwich and substituted coleslaw for the potato salad. While the service was a little slow, the excellent food more than made up for the wait. While I am not normally a fan of barbecue, I liked the Memphis style as it was cooked in a dry rub spice instead of gooey and thick barbecue sauce. My sandwich was delicious and flavorful and BarBerQs is definitely a place I would eat at again.

BarBerQs

Smoked Chicken Sandwich at BarBerQs.

Afterwards, I drove to Domaine Carneros, which was located just outside of Napa. The sun was absolutely scorching hot at this point, so I quickly headed up the stairs to the tasting area. The gorgeous building was modeled after the Château de la Marquetterie, an 18th century mansion located in Epernay, France. This winery produces dry sparkling wines. I purchased my own sparkling wine sampler, which cost $15 and included three 2 ounce samples of different sparkling wines. As I sat and drank the wine, I enjoyed the beautiful views of the surrounding vineyards.

Pretty flowers at Domaine Carneros.

Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros

Domaine Carneros

View from Domaine Carneros.

View from Domaine Carneros.

From Domaine Carneros, I headed back to Sonoma, in order to reach St. Francis Winery. Along the way, I stopped in Sonoma again for a just a bit so that I could visit a home decorative shop I had seen a few hours before. After spending just a few minutes in the store, I left and continued the drive. As I sat in traffic, it donned on me that it was nearly 17:00 and that there might be a possibility that the winery could close before I arrived. I decided to call the winery, and low and behold, it did in fact close at 17:00. As a result, I decided to turn around and head back to the hotel. I was quite tired anyways and I had a headache, so I figured I would come back on one of the following days.

I relaxed at the hotel for about an hour and I took a nap. I left again at 18:45 as I had 19:30 dinner reservations in Sonoma. Based on the excellent reviews it received from Zagat, I decided to eat at Café La Haye. I arrived just in time for my 19:30 reservation, although I had to wait about ten minutes until a table was available. The interior of the rustic restaurant was tiny, and probably only had about 15 tables or so, but appeared to be filled with many locals who were beaming about their food. Once seated, I ordered the Panko Crusted Chicken Paillard which came with warm arugula-grilled red onion salad, roasted fingerling potatoes, fava beans and salsa verde. As I waited for my food to arrive, I was given awesome service by extremely attentive waiters. Just as described, the food was incredibly delicious and flavorful. For dessert, I ordered the Warm Almond Cake with Maple-Quince Caramel and Whipped Cream. The cake was insanely good; it had a crunchy top with a soft and moist but dense cake that was intensely flavored with almond and topped with real whipped cream; it literally melted in my mouth. For everything, my bill came to $24, which was more than I had wanted to spend, but a good deal for the quality of food. I left feeling full and satisfied after my first day in California’s wine country.

Panko Crusted Chicken Paillard from Cafe La Haye. 

Warm Almond Cake with Maple-Quince Caramel from Cafe La Haye.